This bridge connects southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. It has the solidity of Zhaozhou Bridge in Hebei Province and the charm of Longnao Bridge in Luxian County.
Can bridges last forever? My answer is of course yes.
Not to mention the world-famous Zhaozhou Bridge, Ba Bridge, Seven-hole Bridge and other ancient Chinese architectural bridges, just talk about the Liufang Bridge in Shuiwei Dunzichangtou, a famous historical and cultural city in Xuyong, southern Sichuan. An ancient Qing Dynasty bridge with great research value. It spans the Dunzi River in Shuiwei Town and connects the ancient Salt Tea and Salt Horse Roads in the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. It is a stone arch bridge built in an east-west direction. Although the bridge is located in a mountain village and is little known, it plays an important role that cannot be ignored.
I was an educated youth who went to the countryside in Dunzi. I heard from a local old man that in ancient times there was no bridge on the Dunzi River. People who wanted to cross the river could only come and go from a row of stone piers placed on a shallow stone beach. When there is water, it is impassable and the current is too fast to ferry. Not to mention it is inconvenient to go to the market and visit other places, it is also difficult to go to Yunnan and Guizhou by taking the ancient roads. In order to make the ancient road unobstructed, people built this ancient stone bridge in the gentle section of Dunzichangtou River, which solved the difficulty of transitioning across the river on both sides. The villagers were very happy and thought that they had done a great merit and deserved to be remembered forever. Therefore, they named the stone bridge Liufang Bridge, which meant that future generations would remember the merits of building the bridge.
Liufang Bridge also has another nickname: Changshou Bridge. It is said that this area has good feng shui and people who cross this bridge can live longer, so it has the name Changshou Bridge. Strange to say, there are indeed many people who live long lives in Baihe Village at the head of Dunzichang and Qinggang Village on the other side of Liufang Bridge. I don’t know if it is because of good feng shui or for some other reason. But in my opinion, the water of Dunzi River is clear. , with the fragrance of mountain flowers and grass coming from the deep mountains and canyons, starting from the old Huangjing forest in Gulin County, passing through the ancient Gulin Osmanthus Field, crossing the Qiaogoutou Canyon, and flowing through the quiet fragrance of Huatan, singing joyfully all the way. Singing, coming from south to north, rushing to Dunzi, an ancient place in the mountains, flowing with the quiet fragrance all the way, from Liufang Bridge to the north. This is pure flowing water in the mountains. Wouldn’t it benefit the people in the mountains? This is my personal answer. Whether you agree or not, I think so: after drinking this clear mountain spring water and living in this fresh air, how can you not live longer?
Liufang Bridge is a flat bridge with 8 stone piers and 9 bridge holes. Someone from the Educated Youth Center measured it at that time. The length of the bridge is 33.50 meters and the width is 1.60 meters. When the water is dry, the distance between the bridge deck and the bridge is The water distance is about 2 meters high. When the water rises, although the water is large, it will not submerge the bridge deck. People can cross the river smoothly from it to the other side. I remember that as an educated youth, I would cross the bridge every day to attend classes at the school on the other side of the bridge. I clearly remember that the Liufang Bridge deck was made of two green sand strips 4 meters long, 0.8 meters wide and 0.4 meters thick, laid side by side on the two bridge piers. On the bridge, every two piers form a group and are paved together. They are strong and spacious, and they look majestic from a distance. A wide platform is built with stone blocks at the head of the bridge. Although there are no bridge guardrails, pedestrians and animals can safely and safely cross the bridge to the other side. Two stone dragons are carved on the two stone piers in the middle of the bridge. The dragon's head looks up with eyes wide open, holding a pearl in its mouth, its horns and scales are clear, its spine supports the bridge, and its tail points downward. The stone dragon is about 3.7 meters long and 0.6 meters wide. It is strong and powerful and beautiful in shape, especially the dragon scales, which are delicately carved and neatly arranged. It is carved using deep relief techniques. It is very exquisite, with all the concavities and convexities. It expresses people's hope that the auspicious dragon will subdue the flood and ensure safety. It also plays a role in stabilizing the bridge body and making it beautiful.
When floods hit, it disperses torrent waves, stabilizes the bridge body, and balances the stress on it. This kind of construction shows that during the Qing Dynasty in my country, bridge construction had reached a considerable level, and the bridge construction skills were superb. Not only the sturdiness of the bridge was considered, but also the shape of the bridge, and the ability of the bridge to receive water. It has been carefully built under pressure, so it can withstand hundreds of years of ups and downs, scorching sun and winter, and the impact of ice, snow and floods. This cannot but be said that the Liufang Bridge is solidly built and inherits the essence of the world-famous Zhaozhou Bridge built by Lu Ban. , this ingenious bridge-building technology is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation. It is as strong and beautiful as the two famous ancient bridges "Yonghe Bridge" and "Penglai Bridge" in Yongning City. Although it has been tested by hundreds of years of wind and rain, it still remains Still looking great and serving the public.
On both sides of Liufang Bridge, towering green mountains are closely connected, and the ancient roads in the mountains are not filled with people, caravans, or pack teams. It is mainly divided into two ancient roads, north and south, leading to northern Guizhou. The south road leaves Sichuan via Guandoushan and Tianjiapo, and the north road enters Guizhou via Dakanpo, Dashi Township. These two existing sections have been listed as national cultural relics protection sites in 2013.
At that time, out of curiosity, several educated youths invited me to walk a short distance. We started from Liufang Bridge and walked towards the ancient mountain roads paved with bluestone slabs. We saw bluestone slabs on the ancient road one after another, and we could not see the end. It reminded us of the hardships of paving the road in the first place and the hardships of walking the ancient roads. A local elder told us that Dunzichang was a post station on the Sichuan-Guizhou Ancient Road in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, transportation was inconvenient, and materials and daily necessities were all carried on horseback by people, including salt, cloth, lead, tea, mountain products, tung oil, etc. Shipped from Yongning to various places in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Yongning is at the junction of the three provinces, with prosperous docks. The transshipment cargo goes to Yunnan and Guizhou from Zhengdong, Mani, Chishuihe, Xueshanguan, etc. in the south of Yongning; in the north of Yongning, it leaves Sichuan via Jiangmen, Maling, Tianchi, Shuiwei, Dunzi, Dashi, Fenghuang, etc. Go to Yunnan and Guizhou.
The specialties of this area, such as bamboo, wood, tung tea oil, lead, etc., were transported to Luzhou, Chongqing and other places via these ancient roads. These horse teams and cargo teams starting from Yongning took the North-South Tea Horse Road to Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, leaving deep footprints on the ancient road. The Liufangqiao Ancient Road closely connected Shuiwei, Tianchi, Dashi, Xianglin, and Chishui in Guizhou , Baoyuan and other places, it is one of the important bridges on the Salt Horse and Tea Horse Ancient Roads in southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou. Liufang Bridge carries people's sweat and hopes, as well as information exchange and material gathering. Although it is located in the mountains, there are lively businessmen and merchants. The ringing of horse bells and the deep marks of horse hooves break the deserted loneliness of the mountain wilderness. It carries the economic and cultural exchanges between the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. The thick bluestone slats on the bridge deck Stones, standing in the river, are the stone bridges and piers that are hit by the waves all year round. Every inch has engraved the creases of history and recorded the rich and colorful strokes of the year, accompanying the ancient roads in the mountains and the hard life.
There is an ancient temple, Shanngle Temple, next to Liufang Bridge. The bells in the morning and drums in the evening welcome and send off, so many faithful men and women walk across the Liufang Bridge with pious hope and come to Shanngle Temple to pray to God and worship Buddha. Some are begging for blessings, some are begging for peace and health, some are begging to have children, some are begging to get rich... There are cigarettes curling up in the hall, candles are shining brightly, and there are many pilgrims. Some of these pilgrims are local mountain people, some are merchants from afar, some are porters, locals, vendors, and business people, men and women, old and young, all of them come with sweet intentions, especially when rushing to the temple fair. It was even more crowded and lively. These are all indispensable without Liufangqiao's help, Liufangqiao has contributed a lot. Because of her, people can easily cross the river to "Shang Le" at Shan Le Temple.
When the wind is nice and the sun is beautiful, I like to stand on the Liufang Ancient Bridge and see the river clearly coming through the valley, and watch the Qinggang Rock and Baihe Rock standing quietly on both sides of the bank. The ancient fields and canyons are long, the ancient banyan trees and green bamboos depend on each other, the gurgling water, the clear water waves, and the tranquility form a picture of tranquility over time, a picture of harmony between man and nature. Looking back at the present and recalling the past, touching the scene and melting emotions, how could one not feel relaxed and happy in the heart?
Liufang Bridge is rooted in the mountains and stands on the land of Yongning. It has endured hundreds of years of wind and rain without wavering. It has shouldered the historical development process of the mountainous area and has become a transportation link for people to travel happily, benefiting the mountain people and future generations. In 1994, it was listed as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. It complements the Guanyin Pavilion Bridge built on the Dunzi River in 1973 (this bridge is 5 kilometers north of Liufang Bridge), and the Jidong Bridge built on the Dunzi River in 1976 (this bridge is 3 kilometers south of Liufang Bridge, Long Next to Junmiao Highway), the three bridges are beautiful and the three bridges are fragrant!
On the Liufang Bridge in the middle, although the flow of people passing by has been greatly reduced compared with the Qing Dynasty, its nature is still the same. It is still serving the mountain people and has become an ancient and beautiful scenery, reminding people Stories from the long past. Shanngle Temple was also renovated in 1952 and Dunzi Primary School was opened, helping batches of mountain children to take off from here and soar into the blue sky. Accompanied by the sound of books, generations of people passed by on Liufang Bridge. She once again carried beautiful memories, walked into the new era with laughter, gazed affectionately at the great changes in Xuyongshan Township, and walked into the intoxicating new paintings. (Sun Xue)